Fairfield University is serious about providing every student with the opportunity to gain practical experience in their major field of study. In fact the university guarantees that every junior or senior in good academic standing will have the opportunity for an internship or research experience that is related to their major. Every summer students collaborate with members of the faculty on research projects in a wide variety of academic disciplines and students frequently coauthor research with their professors.
Fairfield students gain valuable research, scholarship, publication, and presentation experiences through a wide array of student-faculty, group, and independent opportunities. Through resources such as the Office of Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships and the Office of Service Learning, the University provides challenging opportunities for students to participate in research and scholarly endeavors.
Fairfield students travel to all corners of the world through university sponsored programs in Italy, Ireland, Australia, Nicaragua and Tanzania and more than 90 affiliated programs. Almost 40% of Fairfield students take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad.
In the past 17 years, 54 Fairfield graduates have been named Fulbright scholars.
GREAT TEACHING
Leading Scholars and academic innovation
The core curriculum requires students to take 60 credits in five areas including mathematics and natural sciences; history and social/behavioral sciences; philosophy, religious studies, and ethics; English and the arts; and modern or classical languages and literature. Fairfield doesn’t view the core as a checklist to get through but rather an important integrated component of their liberal arts education that enables students to better understand the connections across disciplines and time.
The university has six schools: The College Arts and Sciences; the Charles F. Dolan School of Business; the School of Nursing; University College; the School of Engineering; and the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions.
Fairfield had developed a program that allows students to take interdisciplinary clusters of two or three thematically related courses. Clusters allow a student to explore a particular topic from a variety of different perspectives.
Members of the Fairfield faculty are leading scholars and great teachers. Professor Kim Bridgford won one of 28 fellowships from the Connecticut Commission of the Arts (CAA). She is also a former Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching teacher of the year. Professor Meredith Wallace co-edited a book on prostate cancer that won a prestigious award form the American Journal of Nursing.
Fairfield embraces the Jesuit ideal of cura personalis which means caring for the whole person – body, mind and spirit.
Majors: Accounting (Five-year BS/MS available), American Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Communication, Computer Science, Economics (Has a B.A. and B.S. track), Engineering (Computer, Electrical, Mechanical, Software, Engineering 3/2), English, Finance, History, Information Systems, International Business, International Studies, Management, Marketing, Mathematics, Modern Languages and Literatures (French, German, Italian, Spanish), Nursing, Philosophy, Physics, Politics, Psychology (Has a B.A. and B.S. track), Religious Studies, Sociology and Anthropology, Visual and Performing Arts (Art History, Music, Studio Art, Theatre)
VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
With Division I athletics, a strong and active student government, about 80 student organizations, a state-of-the-art performing arts center feature national and international lectures and performers you may very well find that if you’re a student at Fairfield there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do all you want to do. But if a free afternoon should present itself New York City is only an hour away or you can take stroll on a Long Island Sound beach which is only one mile from campus.
A community not an institution
Fairfield students are very committed to community service. Nearly one-third of all students engage in volunteer programs in nearby cities. Fairfield’s community service programs are cutting edge and award winning. The Corporation for National Service has declared Fairfield’s Literary Volunteer Program to be a model program and Fairfield has won three consecutive awards from the national Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness. Fairfield students were singled out from among 600 colleges and universities nationwide for their outstanding efforts.
Fairfield is a great place for athletes and sports fans. The Stags compete in 20 varsity sports against some of the best collegiate athletic programs in the nation. The men’s and women’s basketball and soccer teams and the women’s volleyball team have all made recent trips to their respective conference and NCAA tournaments. Fairfield has won the Commissioner’s Cup as the overall best athletic program in the Metro Athletic Conference multiple times. Non-varsity athletes can partake in a variety of club sports or intramural programs.
Fairfield has about 80 student organizations and clubs on campus and a strong student government that manages and sponsors student activities like
The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts rest at the heart of cultural life on the Fairfield campus. The center includes two theatres and an art gallery and plays host to a wide range of cultural and educational events. Community outreach is a significant part of the center’s mission. The center regularly hosts performances that include musical concerts, ballet and jazz dancers, comedy, opera, plays, and other events.
The Open VISIONS Forum is a public outreach program engaging the ‘life of the mind’ with the Connecticut community. Its mission is to integrate the academic perspective of the University’s students and faculty with the wide general interests of our regional audience. Through an ongoing series of lively and informative lectures, these ‘public conversations’ present eminent opinion-makers, artists, authors, contributors to the humanities and sciences, civic and political commentators
SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES
An experience that leads to results When it comes time for Fairfield students to look for a job they can call upon a strong and active alumni network. The following individuals serve as an example of the great things Fairfield graduates are doing:
Dr. Peter Pronovost ‘87, a Johns Hopkins University professor and critical care specialist, won the prestigious 2009 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (a $500,000 grant known as the ‘genius grant’) for his revolutionary work in developing a medical checklist in emergency care resulting in monumental reductions of infection. Time Magazine named him one of the “most influential people of 2008.
Dr. Katherine Lapp ‘78, executive vice president of Harvard University, where she oversees all financial, administrative, human resources and capital planning functions as well as the administrative aspects of information technology for the university.
Jeanne Begley ’84 won an Emmy as the producer/director of Biography, a popular nonfiction series on A&E.
Christopher J. McCormick ’78 is president and CEO of L.L. Bean.
Capt. Gregory J. Martin, M.D. ’80 is the chief of infectious diseases at Bethesda Naval Hospital and a recipient of the U.S. Navy’s Legion of Merit for his work investigating bio-terrorism. He